Audiobooks for The Odyssey Surge Ahead of Its Upcoming Movie Release

Jul 10

2 min read

The upcoming The Odyssey movie is generating a lot of buzz and attention, but interestingly, it’s causing a spike in audiobooks too. Part of this can be attributed to the ElevenLabs production. The 13-hour audiobook has been released for free and uses an approved clone of Michael Caine’s voice to narrate the text. Twenty other voices are included, as well as an orchestral score.

The Odyssey Effect is Taking Entertainment by Storm

Hype for The Odyssey is so great that traditional book sales for the original title have surged since the movie’s announcement. The movie had a solid foundation to build on, as Greek entertainment has been experiencing a boom in popularity for some time. Artists like Evritiki Zygia, who create traditional Thracian music, have been touring for years.

SepticFlesh, an acclaimed death metal band from Athens, uses Greek mythology to inspire their songs. Waterstones Myths & Legends category has a number of best-selling titles, including The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

In iGaming, Greek mythology is also a theme. UK bingo games like Age of the Gods Bingo use graphics of Zeus and other deities with a backdrop showing Mount Olympus. Examples like this don’t just show how popular mythology is, but how the Odyssey didn’t create interest in Ancient Greece; it simply built on what was already there.

As hype builds to the movie’s theatrical release, the audiobook from ElevenLabs has come at the perfect time. The audiobook was strategically timed to coincide with the movie.

Translations of the Epic are Over 500 Pages

The Odyssey follows Odysseus as he attempts to leave Troy after the Trojan War. Amazon is offering a limited-time Audible trial that allows people to get three months for free, with some promotions including site credit.

Even though the release from ElevenLabs is proving to be popular, other releases, like Emily Wilson’s translation in 2017, have also been brought into the spotlight more.

This was the first English translation to be done by a woman. Clare Danes narrated it, and it has a run time of 13 hours and 32 minutes. The audiobook currently has an average rating of 4.6 by 4,000 people, making it one of the top releases.

Robert Fagles’ 1996 translation is amongst one of the most-celebrated versions of the epic as well. It’s narrated by Ian McKellen and runs for 13 hours and three minutes. It’s got a 4.5 rating from 3,500 listeners and is a hit amongst fans who love classic literature.

Other releases include Benedict Cumberbatch’s BBC Radio 4 release. This came out in 2005, and even though it’s been nearly two decades since, interest in mythical literature is spiking so much that fans have been eager to seek out older work in an attempt to experience the story in whole new ways.

As the movie rolls out to cinemas across the world, listening statistics are expected to rise even more, showing how much history influences the modern day age, and how relevant classic literature is to this day.

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